#dal niente

Georg Friederich Hass’ Trois Hommages (for two pianos tuned a quarter tone apart) played by Mabel Kwan

New Focus FCR214 I know this review is “late out the gate” but this disc really needs to be heard. When I did finally listen to this disc in its entirety while on a long drive I was positively mesmerized. This odd mixture of 1/4 tone tunings along with post minimalist repeating patterns takes on the character of drone as well as its own take on minimalism and even spectralism to some degree.…

Ashley Fure — Something to Hunt [w/ score]

Deerhoof & Dal Niente: Balter/Saunier (New Amsterdam)

I remember sharing Deerhoof's Friend Opportunity in 2006 with Marcos Balter, a friend of mine in Chicago, who immediately fell in love with it; I was also pleasantly surprised by the angular, jaunty tunes of that same album after having explored earlier albums like Reveille, wherein they sounded more like a curious ADHD experiment than an accomplished performance outfit (though in hindsight, perhaps both). Friend Opportunity changed my perception of Deerhoof as far more a force to be reckoned with, tightening and honing their sound while firmly proclaiming their technical prowess. Imagine my delight then, over 10 years later, to hear Marcos’s compositions performed by Deerhoof and contemporary performance ensemble Dal Niente. It’s a collaboration that is curious on so many levels: it bridges the often perceived wide chasm between contemporary ensemble music and experimental rock; it marries the microtonality of Balter's compositions with the often textural and non-melodic sound-making of Deerhoof’s most difficult material; it pairs Balter, a contemporary composer who draws outside the lines, with Greg Saunier, a drummer whose musical ambition and enthusiasm is easily as big as a veteran like Stuart Copeland (and arguably to far more interesting ends musically). Much has been made of rock's crossover successes into more score and composition-oriented ensemble music, Jonny Greenwood’s scores in particular. But there is something more wholly complementary about the creative forces involved with this project.

Balter / Saunier by Dal Niente & Deerhoof

Balter’s “Meltdown Upshot” in seven parts comprises the majority of the recording, and the performances from Deerhoof and Dal Niente bring the music to life such that it’s hard to imagine it any other way. Deerhoof vocalist Satomi Matsuzaki blends seamlessly with vocalists from the 22-piece ensemble, and Saunier’s deft drumming feels like the perfect backbone to Dal Niente’s spry musical maneuvering through Balter’s compositions. The echoing staccato patterns of “No. 4, True/False” feel like a natural fit for the ensemble and Deerhoof’s own sensibilities, sort of a rapid-fire call and response, while “No. 6, Cherubim” is driven far more overtly by Saunier’s drumming and its 5/4 time signature, sounding more plausibly like a Deerhoof session. The push and pull between the various performers and Balter’s writing is what makes the entire recording so successful, as if there was no ego in the equation whatsoever. Instead it feels like a real marriage of sensibilities and enthusiasm for performance, whether across “Meltdown Upshot” or Balter’s other brief microtonal piece in Portuguese, “Pois que nada que dure, ou que durando” (“Since nothing that lasts or that, lasting…”). The final piece on the album turns the tables, featuring Deerhoof pieces interpreted in exciting and often beguiling new ways for twenty minutes. In its sprawl, it is less a series of reinterpretations and more so a new spin on the entirety of Deerhoof's vast œuvre, eschewing any of the band's own playing while Dal Niente bring Saunier's new arrangements to life. It's a compelling take on the band's music, yet again emphasizing that the divide between so-called academic performance and indie rock is not so pronounced after all. The whole thing is immensely satisfying, though Balter’s compositions shine brightest by virtue of the chemistry shared with his collaborators. Highly, highly recommended.

Dal Niente / Deerhoof - Balter / Saunier [New Amsterdam]

‘New Amsterdam Records is excited to announce the new collaborative album from Deerhoof ("the best band in the world” - Pitchfork) and Chicago-based 22-piece contemporary music group Dal Niente (“a model of what contemporary music needs" - The Chicago Tribune), Balter / Saunier, which will be released on April 29. The album features works by Brazilian-born composer Marcos Balter and arrangements by Deerhoof drummer Greg Saunier of his band’s songs. The album will be celebrated at ensemble Dal Niente’s 10th Anniversary Party in Chicago on April 30 at Dal Niente's Studio & 3rd Floor Commons at 4045 N Rockwell, which will include the Chicago premiere of Saunier’s piece on the album, “Deerhoof Chamber Variations.” ‘Deerhoof and Dal Niente first crossed paths in 2012 when they shared a bill at Chicago’s Millennium Park. The two groups bonded instantly over their shared sensibilities and began a long-term collaboration, performing together when possible and inspiring each other along the way. Balter / Saunier is a culmination of these explorations, an intricate intermingling of styles that captures each group at its most adventurous and encapsulates what it means to create, perform and listen to music in 2016. ‘Despite the scope and scale of the collaboration (with more than 30 people involved), the recording process was a remarkably DIY effort. Balter / Saunier is self-produced, mixed and edited; composers session-produced their pieces; and engineer Dan Nichols cleverly turned a busy downtown ballroom into a treated recording environment. Everyone spent a lot of time listening – to the music and each other – and it shows: the final product is the very definition of a meeting of the minds, a perfect distillation of several (highly developed) artistic voices. ‘Balter / Saunier consists of two longer works, one each by Balter and Saunier, with one shorter piece by Balter between the two. The album opens with Balter’s seven-part piece “meltDown Upshot”, a magnetic mix of heady beats, catchy pop, absorbing postminimalism, angular melodies and fireworks of free jazz written specifically for the two groups’ collaboration. Next is “Pois que nada que dure, ou que durando,” a poem by Fernando Pessoa that translates to "For that nothing lasts, or that lasting” in English, a dissonance-tinged work that plays like a sonic realization of Dalí’s “Persistence of Memory.” The album closes with Saunier's “Deerhoof Chamber Variations”, a work for Dal Niente that uses Deerhoof's catalogue as source material. Rather than simply re-arranging Deerhoof songs by rote, Saunier flexes his compositional background to create a meditation on the group’s discography. Familiar melodies – set amongst grand, expansive arrangements – drift in and out of view as if from a refracted memory.’

Dal Niente & Deerhoof – Cherubim

Amerikalı deneysel/punk rock grubu Deerhoof 4 yıl önce, Chicago’da 22 kişilik bir orkestraya sahip Dal Niente adlı toplulukla birlikte konser vermişti.

Bu, çok ayrı tarza sahip iki topluluk, yakın zamanda tekrar bir araya geldi ve işbirliğini stüdyoya taşıdı.